Posts in “The Great Turtle Race” Category

And it's all come down to this, the final day of the Great Turtle Race. I'm the "Voice of Swimming," Rowdy Gaines, reporting live. The last day is certainly not the least in terms of excitement! Wawa Bear made it just under the wire. In an amazing finish that was reminiscent of her coach, Jason Lezak, in his world-record comeback victory in the 2008 Olympic relay, Wawa Bear zoomed across the finish line just before the end of the Race!

Illustration by Chris Rooney

Now that the turtles have completed the two-week Race, we can reveal just how far each turtle traveled! These turtles have put in incredible effort on their journeys, and all have covered thousands of kilometers. Olympic medal-winning backstroker Aaron Peirsol was the official spokesperson and 'coach' for this event. And the winner of the challenge is... Estéban! He swam an astounding 7,856 kilometers (4,881 miles) during the course of the Race. Visit the interactive Race Map to find out more about the turtles' challenge stats.

What a Race this has been. The competitors in this Race are truly inspirational. They face many obstacles, cross entire oceans, and see many changes to their environments, but they just keep on going.

On behalf of all the sponsors, partners, coaches, Race fans, and the turtles themselves, thanks for your support and participation in the Great Turtle Race. Together, we can all help leatherbacks on their journey back to healthy populations in healthy oceans. Taking the No More Plastic! Pledge is a great way to start!

Hi Race fans! I'm Rowdy Gaines reporting on the second to last day of the Great Turtle Race, and what a day! Estéban, Nueva Esperanza, and Seabiscuit all crossed into the Caribbean in a photo finish, but it looks like it was Seabiscuit by a beak! Estéban and Nueva Esperanza finished in a tie for third place, but both made super efforts toward the finish.


Illustration by Chris Rooney

It looks like the mad dash that Nueva made during the last couple of days has left her exhausted. She stopped not too long after crossing the finish line. Maybe she's taking it easy now that she's in those warm, soothing Caribbean waters. Estéban crossed into the Caribbean and is now cruising up the coast of the Windward Islands.

Hold on a second! Look at Wawa Bear! It appears her coach, Jason Lezak (who also coached Seabiscuit to an amazing finish) has convinced her that it was time to go to her favorite beach in French Guiana! She's making great time now, but will she make it before the Race ends tomorrow?

Grembo Jones and Searcher are still hanging around in the eastern Atlantic in the general vicinity of the Cabo Verde Islands. Nightswimmer seems to be headed straight to Georgia. She traveled a long distance, though, which means she knows the way and will be a contender next year!

It has all come down to this: tomorrow is the final day of the Race! How will the Race end? We'll announce which turtle covered the most ocean during the Race. Visit the interactive Race Map to track all the action. Don't miss the last day!

Welcome to the final week of the Great Turtle Race! I'm Rowdy Gaines, and we are thrilled to report that after thousands of miles of swimming, we have a winner! Backspacer has finally ended the suspense! She made up her mind and crossed the finish line through the Windward Islands, between St. Vincent and St. Lucia. Now she's doing a victory lap inside the Caribbean. Congratulations to Backspacer and her coach, Eric Shanteau!

Illustration by Chris Rooney

Who will be next? There are several turtles who seem to be poised to beat the buzzer and finish the Race. Nueva Esperanza sure seems to be picking up speed. She is heading toward the Caribbean after being hundreds of kilometers out to sea. And how about Estéban? He seemed to almost cross the finish line, but bounced back and did a loop! Maybe he's following Backspacer's example.

Check out Seabiscuit! He's oh-so-close to the finish line off Suriname and French Guiana! Maybe he's waiting for Wawa Bear. Lindblad the Explorer seems to have stopped in her tracks like Billy did before. Maybe she's whale watching, or maybe she's just resting up for the final push to the finish line. She'd better hurry--she doesn't have much time! Nightswimmer has changed course and is now heading west toward the US. Check out the interactive Race Map. Who do you think will be the next turtle to cross?

We know leatherbacks are deep divers, so what about our Race turtles? The deepest dive challenge results are in! The winner of this challenge is Grembo Jones. Grembo made a total of 6 dives that were more than 800 meters (2,625 feet) deep!

On the final day of the Race, we'll announce the winner of the granddaddy of all swimming competitions: total distance traveled. Olympic star Aaron Peirsol is the official coach for this challenge. Check back on Wednesday, April 29th to see which turtle will claim the title of champion traveler!

Rowdy Gaines here with an update on the Great Turtle Race. Backspacer continues to dance around that finish line, now heading north. She's so close to the finish line, but won't cross. Let's hope she makes up her mind to finish soon! Wawa Bear did some more loops, so she must not be ready to stop swimming yet!

Estéban is on a mission! He's cruising fast toward the Caribbean, looking to enter near the Windward Islands. If this were a NASCAR race, Cali would be the winner! He seems to have completed a full lap through the Atlantic from the point where he began his migration.

Nueva Esperanza and Seabiscuit have peeled off from the rest of the group, but Nueva is pointed toward the Caribbean Sea and Seabiscuit toward the Guianas. Are they finally making their move?

We still haven't heard from Billy, so it looks like his transmitter has stopped working altogether. This can happen for lots of reasons, but it always happens. Sooner or later, transmitters stop sending signals, and we don't hear from those turtles after that. While we don't know exactly what happened to Billy's transmitter. Whatever happened, let's hope that Billy makes it down to the Caribbean after all!


Illustration by Chris Rooney

With only three days left in the Race, it's coming down to the wire to see how many turtles can cross the finish line before the end. Check back tomorrow to see if any turtles can make the final push to be the first to get into the Caribbean! We'll also be announcing which turtle made the most dives into deep waters! In the meantime, check out the interactive Race Map to relive what's happened in the race so far.

Happy weekend everyone! I'm Rowdy Gaines reporting live on the Great Turtle Race!


Backspacer spun around, and then buzzed past Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, but she still won't cross the finish line! We've seen these turtles do some unexpected things in the Race so far, but what is up with Backspacer?

Speaking of spinning, Nueva Esperanza twirled in place and is now pointed toward the west, as is Seabiscuit. Estéban is really moving toward the finish line now.
Illustration by Chris Rooney

Cali is now near the coast of the U.S. It looks like he might even be heading back to Canada!

We're certainly in for an exciting finish to the Race!

Hello again Race fans, I'm Rowdy Gaines bringing you the Great Turtle Race! We have some major action in the Race as the week comes to a close.

Backspacer is very close to the finish line but won't cross. She just can't seem to make up her mind about entering the Caribbean. Will her dawdling cost her the Race? Will another turtle take advantage of her indecisiveness and speed past her across the finish line?

Several turtles are spinning around the same area north of South America, including Lindblad the Explorer, Nightswimmer, Estéban, Seabiscuit, and Nueva Esperanza. Who will break out of that pack? It looks like Estéban might be the first to leave that group and head for the finish line! But where will he cross?

Grembo Jones and Searcher are still off on their own, probably taking advantage of being away from all those bigger turtles and finding lots of jellies all for themselves!

Cali definitely seems to be heading away from the Caribbean and back toward New England and Nova Scotia. Does he think this racetrack goes in a loop? Visit the Race Map to check your favorite turtle's position.

The results are in for the longest dive competition! All of the turtles made dives lasting longer than one hour, but Cali is the clear winner of this challenge--he made an incredible 148 dives longer than 60 minutes!

Illustration by Chris Rooney

Check back on Monday, April 27th to find out which turtle made the most frequent deep dives. We might even have a winner in the Race on Monday!

Hi everyone, I'm Rowdy Gaines reporting on the Great Turtle Race!

Backspacer is edging ever-so-close to the finish line. Will she cross it, or will she wait to pick the perfect place to finish her long swim? The Caribbean is a big place after all, with so many places to see...

Billy hasn't moved over the last two days, but we now know why: his transmitter is not sending signals, so we can't track him. Let's just hope that he's experiencing technical difficulties and we'll hear back from his transmitter soon.

Wawa Bear has been swimming in a loop, and Seabiscuit looks like he might try one, too! Why play around like that when they're getting so close to the finish line? They and the other turtles hanging at that latitude are passing through the North Equatorial Current, which is flowing from east (Africa) to west (Caribbean), and creates lots of different smaller currents that probably are like snack bars for leatherbacks there. Maybe they're hanging out and waiting for jellyfish.

How long can a leatherback turtle stay underwater on just one breath? Check back tomorrow when the results of the longest dive competition are revealed!

Hi Race fans! Rowdy Gaines here. Today is Earth Day, and the turtles are celebrating by making the Race interesting.



Billy seems to have gotten stuck -maybe he stopped to look for a bite to eat? He better watch out, because his pause is allowing Backspacer to pass him!

Seabiscuit appears to be following the path taken by Nueva Esperanza and Wawa Bear toward South America. Can he catch up with them?

Illustration by Chris Rooney

It looks like Grembo Jones and Searcher are heading towards Africa instead of the Caribbean. Maybe Searcher is showing Grembo some cool spots in the eastern Atlantic.

What's Cali doing? He seems to have taken a turn to the west. Is he trying a different route? He looks to be steering toward the U.S. coast. Maybe he's headed for Florida.

For Earth Day, what better way to celebrate than to cheer on your favorite turtle and do your part to keep the environment safe and clean! Leatherbacks and other sea creatures are threatened by pollution (like plastic bags) in the oceans. Take the No Plastic Pledge and help keep leatherbacks and other marine life safe!

Do you like turtles? Our friends at KOL sure do! They've been watching the Great Turtle Race closely, and they've even put together three new galleries to celebrate all things turtle.

Hi, turtle lovers! This is Rowdy Gaines reporting on the Great Turtle Race. The Race is getting very exciting! The turtles are all making moves toward the Caribbean, but using very different strategies to get there.

Billy is getting really close to the finish line in the northern Caribbean. Will he be the first to cross it? The other turtles hope not!

Nueva Esperanza and Wawa Bear are still nearly tied and heading toward South America, with Estéban and following.

Keep an eye on Seabiscuit-he's not far behind! Is he going to try to overtake the others from behind, just like his famous racehorse namesake and his famous human coach, Olympic relay star Jason Lezak?

Grembo Jones and Searcher are still the farthest east of all the turtles Are they trying a new route to the Caribbean, or have they been distracted by some tasty jellies?

Illustration by Chris Rooney

Check out the position of all the turtles on the interactive Race Map.